MARIAH ‘MEMOIRS OF AN IMPERFECT ANGEL’

First came the emancipation, then came energy and power, and now comes MEMOIRS OF AN IMPERFECT ANGEL, the new album by international superstar Mariah Carey, scheduled to arrive on August 25th. The first new single pick from MEMOIRS is “Obsessed,” which blasts out to radio today, Tuesday, June 16th. The video for “Obsessed” will be directed by Brett Ratner. “Obsessed” was written and produced by Mariah, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, who are responsible for the majority of tracks on the new album. MEMOIRS was executive-produced by Antonio “L.A.” Reid.

MEMOIRS OF AN IMPERFECT ANGEL, the 12th studio album of Mariah’s career, is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to her RIAA platinum-selling album E=MC(2) (released April 15, 2008), and her worldwide 10 million selling The Emancipation Of Mimi (released April 12, 2005). Both were Soundscan #1 debut albums that made chart history for Mariah in the U.S. and numerous territories around the globe.

The Emancipation Of Mimi generated three Grammy awards (including Best Contemporary R&B Album), two #1 singles, and countless more honors during its 18-month chart stay. The album debuted at #1 on first week sales of 404,000 copies, Mariah’s highest first week sales total (until E=MC(2)). Soundscan’s biggest-selling album of 2005, Mimi featured “We Belong Together” (Grammy winner for Best Female R&B Vocal and Best R&B Song) and “Don’t Forget About Us,” Mariah’s 16th and 17th #1 career singles respectively. They tied one of the most enduring chart records in Billboard Hot 100 history, Elvis Presley’s 17 #1’s.

Three years later, E=MC(2) debuted at #1 on first week sales of 463,000 copies, which now stands as the highest first week sales total of Mariah’s career. The album’s success brought total sales of Mariah’s albums, singles and videos to more than 160 million worldwide, distancing her even further from the pack as the top-selling female recording artist in history.

E=MC(2) spun off four singles: “Touch My Body,” “Bye Bye,” “I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time,” and “I Stay In Love.” Of these, “Touch My Body” made history when it became Mariah’s 18th #1 Hot 100 hit, thus surpassing Elvis Presley. “Touch My Body”‘s two weeks at the top also marked Mariah’s 78th and 79th cumulative career weeks at #1, which tied Elvis’ long-standing all-time high of 79 weeks at #1, as calculated in Billboard.com. At the same time, Mariah is now positioned as the only active recording artist in the 50 years of the Hot 100 (which began in 1958) with the potential to surpass the Beatles’ all-time high of 20 #1 hits.